Is Healthcare Sector a Good Career Path?

Last updated on August 11th, 2024 at 08:07 pm

The Healthcare industry is among the booming industries in the world today.

There are many opportunities with salaries exceeding the national median. Although before the global pandemic of 2020, the healthcare industry was projected to grow at a much faster rate than ever before. Nevertheless, the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of healthcare professionals across the globe.

The need for health care for the ageing population and the growing birth rates across the world are some of the reasons demands for health professionals are on the rise.

If you are asking…is health care a good career path, I want you to read on.

On this page, you’ll learn more about the healthcare industry; find out if it might be the right professional career path for you.

Learn about the benefits of working in the healthcare industry and discover the salary range you can expect based on your qualifications and job position in the industry.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare occupations are projected to grow by 16% between 2020 and 2030. By comparison, the BLS projects the overall number of jobs in the country to grow by just 7.7% during the same period.

Healthcare salary range

The healthcare field encompasses a wide range of salaries. In the United States, personal and home health aides made a median salary of $29,430 in 2021, Registered nurses (RNs), for instance, made a median salary of $77,600 in 2021, and nurse practitioners (NPs) made a median salary of $123,780, while physicians and surgeons made a median salary of $208,000 or more in the same year according to the BLS.

However, experience, education level, geographic location, and industry demand ultimately play a large part in how much you can expect to be paid as a healthcare professional.

Best-Paying Jobs in the Healthcare Industry

There is a wide range of jobs in healthcare – from those that only require a high school diploma to those requiring a doctorate and many years of medical training. Here are some of the jobs you can expect to find according to the BLS.

Best-Paying Jobs in the Healthcare Industry With a High School diploma or GED

Home health and personal care aide – $29,430
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers – $29,780
Pharmacy technicians – $36,740
Opticians – $37,570

Best-Paying Jobs in the Healthcare Industry With Post-Secondary Non-Degrees (Certifications or Other Qualifications)

Medical records and health information specialists – $45,240
Medical transcriptionists – $30,100
EMTs and paramedics – $36,930
Medical assistants – $37,190
Phlebotomists – $37,380
Dental assistants – $38,660
Massage therapists – $46,910
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses – $48,070
Surgical technologists – $48,530

Best-Paying Jobs in the Healthcare Industry With an Associate degree

Veterinary technologists and technicians – $36,850
Respiratory therapists – $61,830
Radiologic and MRI technologists – $61,980
Medical sonographers and cardiovascular technologists and technicians – $75,380
Registered nurses – $77,600
Dental hygienists – $77,810
Nuclear medicine technologists – $78,760
Radiation therapists – $82,790

Best-Paying Jobs in the HealthCare Industry With Bachelor’s degree

Exercise physiologists – $47,940
Recreational therapists – $47,940
Athletic trainers – $48,420
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians – $57,800
Dietitians and nutritionists – $61,650
Registered nurses – $77,600

Best-Paying Jobs in the HealthCare Industry With Master’s Degree

Orthotists and prosthetists – $75,440
Speech-language pathologists – $79,060
Genetic counselors – $80,150
Occupational therapists – $85,570
Physician assistants – $121,530
Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners – $123,780

Best-Paying Jobs in the HealthCare Industry With Doctorate and other professional degrees

Chiropractors – $75,000
Audiologists – $78,950
Physical therapists – $95,620
Veterinarians – $100,370
Optometrists – $124,300
Pharmacists – $128,570
Podiatrists – $145,840
Dentists – $163,220

Is Healthcare a Good Career path?

Certainly yes! The healthcare industry is expected to be the fastest-growing employment industry between 2014 and 2024 as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This projection confirms that the healthcare industry is a good career to pursue. Below are some of the benefits you can expect working in the healthcare industry:

Benefits of Working in the Healthcare Industry

The Healthcare industry is an industry with a career that is more than a paycheck. While a good salary and interesting work are at the top of the list, you’ll get health insurance for yourself and your families, job satisfaction and lots more discussed below:

1. Job Security

The healthcare field is unlike many other industries. The Healthcare industry has one of the highest levels of job security. It has excellent job prospects and you’ll never have trouble finding a job.

2. Job Satisfaction

A career in healthcare has a record of high job satisfaction. From treating patients in an office or studying cells under a microscope to working in a small doctor’s office or running a hospital. You can examine eyes, mend bones, clean teeth or deliver babies. As a result, the overall job satisfaction of health workers in the health industry is believed to be 79.88% satisfied, 15.85% moderate, and 4.27% dissatisfied, according to NIH.

3. Flexible Work Life

Work-life flexibility means creating a culture where employees meet the demands of their personal lives while maintaining high levels of work performance. Flexible work arrangements include options for when, where – and how – the work gets done. So, as a trained health worker, you can choose where you want to live and the setting you want to work in. While some jobs require professionals to be perpetually on call in the event of an emergency, others offer typical working hours or even a reduced work week. And where you run your own medical practice, you can have that flexibility and control over your own schedule, particularly in fields like dentistry where medical emergencies are less common.

4. Career advancement

Career advancement opportunity is available within the healthcare industry. The general belief, which holds true, is that it costs employers less to promote a trusted worker than to hire someone new. Healthcare employers can reimburse educational expenses and even give you time off to go to school so you can qualify for a higher-paying position.

5. Good salary

Healthcare workers earn good salaries. In the US, the average entry-level health worker earns between $15 to $50 per hour. The more experience and training you get in your field, the more money you can make.

6. Opportunity to make difference in people’s lives

The healthcare industry is a service to humanity. It is an opportunity for you to make a difference in many people’s lives. Whether you work as a nurse’s aide, an acupuncturist, a health services administrator or a veterinarian, to name just a few careers, you will be helping to make our world a little healthier, a little safer and a little better.

As a career path, health care offers ample opportunities to heal and support those in need, whether by diagnosing medical conditions or simply offering emotional support.

More than most other career clusters, health care is focused on interfacing with others and directly helping them. If this is a concern for you, then you might consider health care as a career option.